'Statement' W for DePaul

The night began dramatically differently for DePaul, but would it end the same heartbreaking way?

After playing a nearly flawless first half, DePaul had No. 17 Villanova on the ropes, exactly where another ranked team, Vanderbilt, found itself three weeks earlier. And just as Vandy did, 'Nova mounted a rapid rally, scoring 10 straight points to trim DePaul's lead to 68-64 with 3:27 left.

It was at that point that Blue Demons seniors Draelon Burns and Cliff Clinkscales made a decision.

"We wanted to make this a statement to our Big East competitors that we ain't no pushover," Burns said. "I knew we weren't going to let this one slip out of our hands."

The captains rescued DePaul in crunch time, preserving an 84-76 win before 8,865 at Allstate Arena.

DePaul (5-7, 1-0) won its first Big East opener since joining the mega-conference and restored hope for a second-half renaissance.

After Dante Cunningham cut DePaul's lead to 4, Burns hit a pair of free throws and then picked off a Scottie Reynolds pass and coasted in for a layup. The Big East's second leading scorer finished with 20 points and went 9-for-11 at the foul line.

Clinkscales played 39 minutes in place of Jabari Currie, who experienced pain in his chest and neck, possibly because of a pinched nerve. Clinkscales tallied 12 points and 8 assists, steadying the offense down the stretch.

DePaul never let Villanova (10-2, 0-1) get closer than 6 in the final two minutes, hitting 27 of 33 free throws after blowing the Vanderbilt game at the line.

"There's two ways you look at runs if you've seen them in the past," Demons coach Jerry Wainwright said. "'Uh, oh, here it comes again,' or, 'you know, we've been through this before.'"

Several adjustments from the opening tip helped DePaul storm out to a 15-point first-half lead.

The Blue Demons shelved their ineffective zone defense and played man-to-man the entire game. They held Reynolds to 4-of-12 shooting and Villanova to 23.1 percent from beyond the arc.

Villanova entered Thursday shooting 39 percent from 3-point range but missed its first 10 shots from distance.

"We practiced 27 different defenses this week," Wainwright said. "I had numbers, letters. We had cobra, vampire. Yet I woke up this morning and said, 'I'm getting away from who I am.' Man-to-man defense is accountability.

"I wrote it on the board when we came in. I said, 'Look, guys, here's the deal. I am who I am. We're playing man.' "

After struggling to find the right mix in pre-conference play, Wainwright stuck with his starters for the first 12:06 before making his first substitution. With super sub Dar Tucker nursing a sprained ankle, six players played all but three minutes and each scored in double figures.

Senior wing Karron Clarke (14 points, 8 rebounds) played the entire game, and Clinkscales was a rock at point guard, the position where DePaul has struggled the most.

"I'm the point guard leader," Clinkscales said. "That's my job. I'm going to do that regardless -- 40 minutes, 2 minutes.

"I feel I can go another 40."

Sophomore Will Walker added 12 points in 17 minutes off the bench, and center Mac Koshwal recorded a double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds) in his first league game. But Wainwright reserved praise for his four seniors.

"The difference in the game was experience," Wainwright said. "It's great to see a smile on their faces."